By-election looming in KZN after MK Party candidate wins two wards

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The Electoral Commission has confirmed there will be a by-election at a KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) municipality after a councillor from the uMkhonto weSizwe Party won two different wards.

The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) said a discrepancy led to its member, Andreas Gumede, standing as its candidate for wards 12 and 13 in the Johannes Pumani Phungula Local Municipality.

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Gumede won both wards in the recent local government elections.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC)’s rules allow candidates to contest more than one ward.

However, it does not allow one person to be a ward councillor in more than one ward.

In the case of Gumede, the IEC said he must choose which ward he wants to run for a councillor position, and a by-election will be held for the other ward.

The MK Party’s spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Mkhuseli Mlengane, said that a duplication caused the issue.

“We did engage the IEC to say look, there is a duplication and they told [us] we couldn’t change or fix that problem because of the timelines,” he said.

“So we then decided, let’s engage that community and make them understand that we have to win the wards firstly because if it falls to someone else, then that means we wouldn’t be able to govern it.”

Mlengane said he’s not sure whether the duplication happened on the party’s side or the IEC, but he’s confident they will win the by-election.

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